Abstract

It is no easy task to characterize Web 2.0 media. The open parameters of user-generated
sites and the constant churn in content driven by shifting consumer interests and intent
make them huge. complex and elusive targets. This is certainly the case with YouTube
where the scale and scope of the site's content is constantly expanding. The company's
internal data from February 2009 indicate that 15 hours of video are uploaded every
minute. having doubled in the past year (YouTube 2009). As a site. it also defies easy
categorization. As Burgess and Green note in this book. YouTube is simultaneously
'a high-volume website. a broad cast platform. a media archive. and a social network' (5).